The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1887-10-13
THE QUAKER ARTIST.

on With this devils work.
The speaker vN Friend Joseph Harris
snd he held u arms length small pc
ture ia water color. the features oi which
we're hardly disccrnsble in the gloom o.
ibs winter morning Friend Joseph had
been si the barn. ~ vas bis oussom, te
fodder the cattle aud feed the horses before
breakfast, seJ had discovered this humble
BIT Of ar. 10 . nook 10 the grspary. He
did not have 10 be told that !, was bis son
Richards york, whose incliaation to such
unscdly pursuits bad been The distress OF
bis parents lives
Full Of suppressed wrath Joseph burst
into the kitchen where the family we're
waiting breakfast and without preisce
addressed bis son with the threat which
be considered the most dreadful be could
nae that OF disinberitsnce. II meant
something. too. for 10 spite Of bis plain
surroundings. Joseph Harris owned nesriy
two hundred acres OF land. worth easily =
hundred and fifty dollars an acre, aud his
visits At the first Of April each yesr we're
not TO pay interest but 10 receive IT, A
tall, straight figure he was nearly sixty
years Of age. but as vigorous IS a youth.
| with quick motions and shaip black eyes.
indicating violent nature, chained for
life by tue violent discipline Of the Society
OF Friends
His son Richard, now turned OF twenty
two, WAS OF u different mould, short aud
stoutly built His face at first seemed
heavy aud vacant, but this was, 10 fact, the
abstract OF the dreamer. His soft brown
eyes, aud hair clustering 10 thick curls
over bis low but broad forehead. made
amends for his somewhat commonplace
features.
The moment his father entered the
kitchen, Richard felt that his secret labor
had been discovered, but his anxiety was
more for it than for himself. He rarely
dared face his fathers anger, for Joseph
Harris, like many OF his sex, made up in
severity ct home for the smooth and pas
sionless exterior be maintained abroad.
"Will thee give it to me. father2' said
Richard, advancing toward the outstretch.
ed hand which held the sketch; while the
hands owner contemplated it with un-
speakable disgust.
Poor little psintingl 1t was fragment
OF an autumn afternoon, during which
Richard had been husking corn 10 tho
"hill field" aud which had abided In his
memory, clothed with the halo OF hun
dred day dreams. There was corner Of
. wood. the foliage half green, half shsd
ing into tints Of brown and red. A rivulet
leaving . piece OF meadow still gay with
su.umn flowers, and green with wet grass,
flowed ripping and sparkling out Of the
sunlie BIT into the shade Of the dying leaves.
What courage and hope 1t must have!
Richard followed 10 thought it's waters as
they flowed on to Chester creek and then
to the stately Delaware river, and far out
till they met the mighty ocean, which
washes the shores OF oil the world.
And as be mechanically plunged his
husking knife into the husks and turned
out the golden ears one after the other. be
humbly took his lesson to himslf, as was
his wont, aud said; II, too, must have
more courage, frmer hope. Why should
/ not go forward in my study of art with
greater faith? must; l will" And TO
fasten the VOW be had painted two studies
OF this little piece Of meadow as con-
slant reminder, snatching the time at First
days and Fifth days. when his father and
mother we're at meeting, and he and Moses
Riddle, the colored man, we're left TO look
after the stock. One copy he had sent on
. venture to . commission house in New
York, and the other be had hidden 10 the
barn.
1t had acquired a kind Of ssnctity to
him and each tree had become symbol
OF some rebuff or danger be was fated to
encounter In his future life. He had,
moreover. described II to Sibblla Vernon,
and had promised his sole confdau'e Of
his aspirations that he would bring it over
some time and let her see IT, But Sibbilla
lived two miles away, and ss her parents
we're also strict members OF the meeting,
who regarded every work Of art as profan.
ty, this would have to be managed with
due caution.
Richards first impulse, therefore. was
10 secure the picture. But his father had
a double cause OF displeasure. and bis
anger was deep. He had agreed TO give
Richard fourth share Of the profits Of the
farm this year, and not only was this paint
ing = goddess amusement. but also waste
Of precious time and loss OF money. II
must be stopped.
"I'll put It where 1t deserves TO 60. and
where thee will follow unless thee turns
thy steps from the world aud it's follies.
Bat the fire thou wilt meet will be that
which ~ not queIched, and where the
worm dieth not"
With these words. which Friend Harris
spoke slowly aud with that slight chant
ing intonation which characterizes the
utterances OF the speakers in meeting, the
soemnity OF which WAS further increased
by the use OF the formal "tbou," instead Of
the usual 'thee." he stepped to the kitchen
areplscs where goodly 6re vas burning
under the crane. aud striking the picture
against the corner Of the mantlepiece, tore
10 ragged strip through The middle, and
rev the whole into the flames. In q
Va >ut il vss . shiseriog ciader.
'1o.4 are certain nstures whose inher
can only he developed by .
'N' 'e' Full Of latent power, their